HJF drives IT efficiencies toward research excellence

Aligning best practice to deliver great user experience

When Marc De Serio joined the Henry Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF) in 2018—then, as Chief Technology Officer—the nonprofit organization needed something of an IT facelift. Authorized by Congress in 1983 to help advance military medicine and support the Uniformed Services University, HJF has since broadened its scope to provide an essential link between the military medical community, academia, and its federal and private partners, both domestically and internationally.

HJF’s scientific support and administrative capabilities ensure investigators and clinicians can focus on their research—including areas such as traumatic brain injury, human performance, and infectious disease, benefiting the warfighter as well as millions of American service families, veterans, and civilians.

While HJF had grown considerably in scope with a complex ecosystem of employees and research partners, its IT department had not. In determining to ensure it had aligned best practices, the organization turned to ServiceNow. “The ServiceNow platform and IT Service Management (ITSM) solution were perfect for HJF’s Information Technology department to get our ducks in a row, be able to provide a great user experience, and fulfill the ever-changing demands and needs from not only our employees but our research partners and staff in program operations too,” says Marc De Serio, Chief Information Officer, HJF.

Bringing visibility to a complex ecosystem

Since joining HJF, Marc’s role has changed. Now Chief Information Officer, he has an IT team of 42 domestic staff in addition to which are program IT staff located around the world. Getting IT right to support research staff effectively was the cornerstone of HJF’s ServiceNow journey. With around 90 ongoing IT projects at any given time, whether in support of the home office or program and research areas, HJF needed a fully automated project management tool. By demonstrating the success of ITSM and its performance visibility to global partners, Marc and his team were able to recruit support from employees and research partners in Tanzania, Kenya, Thailand, and elsewhere around the world. “We said, join the ServiceNow ITSM, manage your incidents, manage your requests, manage your projects—it was successful for us, it will be for you.”

Facilitating collaboration for optimal results

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, HJF deployed Workplace Service Delivery. The power of the platform allowed fast progress in tracking COVID-19 and enabled a remote and hybrid workplace with digital experiences for employees. “We were able to maximize the efficiency of home office working which is especially important as we see the hybrid workplace as the new normal,” says Marc.

At its Maryland home office, HJF has a brand new, state-of-the-art, 200-seat auditorium where it convenes military, government, and private sector partners, bringing the best of all worlds together in delivering first-class solutions in military medicine. For the first time, Marc and his team have been able to use Workplace Service Delivery to enable event organizers to request from relevant teams all provisions needed for such meetings, from facilities and IT to catering and security—a service that wasn’t possible before the ServiceNow platform.

“We use Workplace to capture meeting requirements such as meeting type, number of days, which ancillary services are needed, and billing requirements, and then coordinate multiple departments to deliver a best-in-class experience. This brand new, very automated, high-tech convening facility is already averaging 250 reservations a year, so close coordination is key.” says Marc.

Showing employees the way with Compass

Marc’s team created a modern intranet experience for its employees called Compass. The intranet has provided a one-stop shop to support and engage employees. From a single point of entry, users can access an intuitive dashboard with role-specific workplace tools.

Event news is posted here—from research system spotlights to hybrid meetings—along with announcements, reports, live policy documents, what’s upcoming, and what needs to be done. Employees are profiled and highlighted in an employee spotlight section and through Compass users can access all workflows enabling them to request HR or IT services, book meetings, and launch other applications—all from one location. As a result of employees being able to access information and progress inquiries through Compass—rather than having to send an email or make a phone call—the IT department has seen a 70% reduction in the number of phone calls received.

“ServiceNow allows us to fulfill the needs of our employees and health partners in a way we can measure and execute so much more efficiently. And by reporting on ways to better facilitate the work of our internal partners, it enables a process of continuous improvement.”

Streamlining processes and improving employee experience

HJF uses HR Service Delivery for employee management; each employee is assigned an HR business partner to facilitate movement between the various HR-related functions, including payroll benefits, employee relations, and leave requests. Rather than users having to send their HR business partner an email as they did previously, an HR business case is opened where service level agreements are made available, and workflows drive the conversation in the notes section. “The visibility for our Human Resources Office is essential, whereas before HJF didn’t have actionable data regarding requests or what was needed. So, we’re now using that to manage and improve the experience for our employees,” says Marc.

Looking ahead

Going forward, HJF is looking to expand its security incident management program, understanding the value in managing security and automating incidents through ServiceNow so that it meets the cybersecurity maturity model set out for the government and the Department of Defense (DoD).

With HJF’s support of service members extending beyond their time in active service, Marc sees the DoD-sponsored SkillBridge program—an initiative to up-skill veterans and help them into the workplace post military service—as an opportunity to train veterans on ServiceNow and facilitate certain fulfillment functions for which HJF is responsible. The SkillBridge program provides a mix of instructor-led training classes and hands-on projects for transitioning service members looking to launch a career in tech. Participants leave the program with a certification as a ServiceNow administrator, implementation specialist, or application developer.

“We believe in ServiceNow,” says Marc. “We believe it’s helping us help military medicine. So why not help them build their post-military careers by giving them ServiceNow development skills?”

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